The Distillation

The core problem is that drug use is always stored in the criminal record. In a situation where a drug user does not have to worry about punishment or a criminal record, it is much easier to provide diverse social and health care support and treatment. The use of drugs in with health professionals would be easier without the label of criminality.

Depending on the case it will be stored from five to ten years. Entries are not removed from the record, even if there was no procecution. This registry is used when the Police is requested to make a security clearance, or a person will need to provide a report of criminal background for education or for work. According to Police statistics, a total of some 15,000 drug use cases are registered every year. This means that in the total registry there are anywhere from 75,000 to 150,000 drug use offences at any time ... because of the large number of juveniles they can have significant implications to a persons future life.

So effectively, the point of exercise is to get to the Supreme Court and force the Victorian government to either put up or shut up – come up with a demonstrably justifiable reason [for denying access to LSD] ... In past decisions the Supreme Court has made it clear that demonstrably justifiable means actual real life evidence, so they’d need to draw on the science ... The stigma surrounding his [LSD] use has led to unemployment for most of the last seven years,​

Greg has continued to mark the anniversary of Bicycle Day each year by taking LSD on the steps of parliament house, as a protest against the continued prohibition of the substance. It was on this day last year that police arrested him ... Effectively, I argued that the matter should be referred to the Supreme Court of Victoria under section 7 and section 14 of the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act. Section 14 is the section that protects the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief. It basically says that you can practice your religion in public and in private, as an individual and as part of a community. And Section 7 is the one that basically puts stipulations on, or limitations on, the government’s right to prohibit certain rights. So effectively, the government needs a demonstrably justifiable reason in order to prohibit a particular right protected by the charter. In the last six years that I’ve been talking to the government, and various politicians, at no point have they come up with a demonstrably justifiable reason. They’ve always come up with community health and safety and all this sort of stuff. Late last year, I actually put in two freedom of information requests. One to the Office of the Minister of Police and the other to the Department of Human Services, just asking if they’ve ever done a harm assessment on any of the transcendent compounds. It turns out they haven’t. They’ve never done that. And the other thing is, the world’s leading researchers have written scientific references for me, basically backing the position that, if used appropriately, LSD is a safe drug. It’s non-addictive. It’s non-toxic. It’s psychologically safe in an appropriate dose and setting.

Not a cure for heroin addition, but a breakthrough weapon in the national battle against it ... Several other states have introduced similar bills, but sponsors are hoping traction in Maryland could lead the way for other states.​

Right now, addicts can only find ibogaine treatments in Mexico and Canada, but researchers believe it could solve a crisis right here in Maryland ... “Ibogaine is very effective in blocking the signs and symptoms of opiate withdrawal,” said ibogaine researcher Dr. Deborah Mash. “It diminishes drug craving and improves mood.” Testifying at a committee hearing Tuesday, Dr. Mash — the leading expert on ibogaine — told legislators the psychedelic, natural drug re-wires the brain and interrupts the cycle of addiction.

Establishing the Ibogaine Treatment Study Program in the Maryland Department of Health.

Providing for the purpose of the Program; requiring the Department, on or before July 1, 2019, to select a certain number of academic medical centers to participate in the Program; requiring the Governor to include in the annual budget for fiscal years 2020 and 2021 an appropriation of $250,000 for the Program; etc.

Customers could vaporize flower and concentrates, but no smoking would be allowed in the consumption areas in order to remain compliant with the Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act.

If passed, the bill would create the first statewide licensing program for cannabis consumption. The City of Denver is currently the only municipality in Colorado that licenses businesses for pot use, but the license requirements are geared more toward art and yoga studios, coffee shops and other traditional establishments. The provisions of HB 1258would permit dispensary owners to add consumption areas to their existing licenses, which means that virtually all of these areas would be connected or very close to the pot shops themselves.

"With the rising rates of deaths by overdoses, we need to have all options on the table. And certainly, removing one [like Kratom] that's non-toxic and non-lethal makes no sense at all."

How is kratom used in the treatment approach developed by Greener Pastures, where Gullikson teams with her husband, program director Ron Figaratto? "It really comes into play in the early stages of acute opiate withdrawal, where the symptoms are most harmful," she replies. "People use kratom to address the most severe symptoms, and it works to alleviate pain and the stomach issues that come with opiate withdrawal. It's almost part of the detox process, where they finally stop taking the opiate and have nothing in their system. It works great in this early stage." In the beginning, "we start with a higher dose of kratom, which may seem somewhat paradoxical," she goes on. "It's ... unique and individual to every person. But at higher doses, kratom most closely replicates the effect they're getting from opiates, even though it's herbal. It connects to the delta opioid receptors in the brain and soothes the body, soothes the mind and eases the acute withdrawal symptoms. And at higher doses, it also serves to avoid the dope sickness that is typical in early recovery from opiates." As clients move deeper into recovery, Gullikson continues, "our goal is to knock that dose down — decrease it over time so a person doesn't become dependent on it. It's not a replacement for opiates. It's a tool to quit them." ... [as for "dependence" on kratom] ... Gullikson sees kratom as infinitely less addictive than heroin and other drugs her clients want to rid from their lives — so much so that she compares it to the sort of stuff served at your friendly neighborhood Starbucks. "Some people can become dependent on kratom for two simple reasons," she allows. "One is that it works, and as humans, we're naturally attracted to anything that works. But it's also a plant in the coffee family, and coffee can have that effect, too."

*In 2015, activists with the Weed for Warriors project dumped pill bottles and syringes in front of the White House lawn to drawn attention to the overprescription of opioid drugs to wounded veterans. Then, last May, protesters held a “die-in” at the New Hampshire State House when U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price visited the capitol ​

Led by people living in recovery or still facing addiction — along with family members whose loved ones died from overdose — the movement is becoming increasingly organized by targeting a variety of actors, drawing in key stakeholders and incorporating a range of tactics to pressure for change. Activists are becoming more strategic in their actions — staging rallies and die-ins across the country, drafting petitions and launching lawsuits.

Recovery activists described how the escalating crisis of addiction and overdose — as well as the government’s inaction to address it — is increasing the movement’s sense of urgency to take more extreme measures. People have long sought to earn a seat at the table with important decision makers, both Hampton and LeMire explained, but now they may be compelled to take more direct or confrontational measures. “We’re just getting a pat on the head,” Hampton said. “It’s an affirmative action play that policymakers need to have that seat for us, but don’t actually have to listen to us. We’re sick of that. We don’t need a seat at that table if that’s how we’re going to be treated. People are building their own tables, and that’s more powerful.”

States and cities have suffered the brunt of the cost and carnage of the drug crisis, which killed more than 64,000 people in 2016 and is straining local emergency and health services. About two-thirds of the overdose deaths were caused by opioids, in particular illicit fentanyl.​The Justice Department also filed a statement of interest in a case involving hundreds of lawsuits against opioid manufacturers and distributors ... the Justice Department will argue that the federal government has borne substantial costs from the opioid epidemic and it seeks reimbursement. The case includes numerous cities, municipalities and medical institutions.​From the Article: Justice Department to target opioid manufacturers, distributors in new push to curb deadly epidemicPublished by: LA TimesOriginal Link : http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-opioid-manufacturers-20180227-story.htmlArtwork Fair Use: Public Domain

ECfES

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